Episodes

In this episode of An Hour of Innovation, Vit Lyoshin speaks with Jasmin Hume, the founder and CEO of Shiru, about how her company uses biotechnology, AI, and precision fermentation to create sustainable food ingredients. Shiru’s mission is to develop sustainable, scalable, high-performance ingredients for the food and personal care industries. Instead of relying on artificial compounds, they look to nature, analyzing proteins from thousands of edible plants. With AI, they can quickly identify and test ingredients that perform better than traditional options. Shiru has built a database of 33 million natural protein sequences. Using machine learning, they identify proteins with specific properties - such as improving texture, replacing eggs, or enhancing flavors - and then produce and test them in the lab. This process, which once took years, now takes just a few months. Jasmin highlighted some of Shiru’s breakthroughs: * Egg Replacements – Proteins that mimic the binding and…

In this episode of An Hour of Innovation, Vit Lyoshin speaks with Roman Pichler about the critical role of product strategy in driving innovation while maintaining execution and long-term vision. Roman broke down the four key elements of an effective product strategy—target users, value proposition, business goals, and competitive advantage—explaining how they act as decision-making guardrails. A key takeaway was the common mistake of confusing product strategy with the backlog—strategy defines the why and what, while the backlog handles how and when. We explored the importance of continuous strategizing, emphasizing the need for quarterly strategy reviews and weekly check-ins to track KPIs, monitor market trends, and adjust to new opportunities or threats. Roman shared his Product Strategy Model, connecting vision, strategy, roadmap, and backlog to ensure execution aligns with business objectives. He also highlighted common pitfalls, including failing to validate assumptions, allo…

In this episode of An Hour of Innovation, Vit Lyoshin and Mitch Francis talk about Mitch's book "Bad-Ass Solutions for Today's Big-Ass Problems." Mitch discusses pressing global issues such as rising ocean levels due to climate change, the education crisis in America, and the national debt. Mitch shares his innovative solutions, emphasizing the need for collective action and involvement from the public to address these challenges effectively. Addressing Rising Ocean Levels Global warming is causing rising ocean levels, with 20 Olympic-sized pools worth of water entering the oceans every second. Mitch’s solution? Redirect 7% of water from the 20 largest rivers to arid regions. This would slow ocean rise and provide fresh water for agriculture and human use. He points to the Central Arizona Project as proof that large-scale water transport is possible. Reforming Education Mitch believes education inequality fuels the wealth gap. His radical solution? Outlaw private schools. This…

In this episode of An Hour of Innovation, Vit Lyoshin and Ami Meoded discuss the innovative Elora Baby Wellness Monitor, which integrates AI technology to enhance baby monitoring and support parental confidence. The discussion covers the evolution of baby monitoring technology, the importance of understanding parental needs, and the innovative features of the Elora monitor. Ami Meoded is a seasoned entrepreneur and marketing leader. He is the Co-Founder and CMO of LittleOne.Care, a company pioneering AI-driven baby wellness technology. With a background in founding and leading multiple startups, he has extensive experience in innovation, product strategy, and go-to-market execution. Ami focuses on leveraging technology to enhance everyday experiences, particularly parenting and child safety. His passion for blending AI with human needs has led to groundbreaking advancements in baby monitoring solutions.

In this conversation, Brooke Hartley Moy discusses her journey in the tech industry and the founding of Infactory, a company focused on leveraging AI to combat misinformation and enhance trust in online information. Brooke Hartley Moy is the CEO of Infactory, a fact-checking AI search engine startup. She has a background in strategic roles within tech giants like Google, Slack, and Salesforce, and most recently served as the Strategic Partnerships Lead at Humane. Brooke is also recognized for her commentary on the challenges and opportunities for women in AI and deep tech industries.

In this conversation, David Hirschfeld shares insights on innovation, problem-solving, and the importance of identifying the right problems to solve in the startup ecosystem. He emphasizes the need for founders to validate their ideas before building products, using a structured approach to understand their target market and the gaps. Through real-life examples, he illustrates the significance of understanding industry-specific challenges and leveraging technology, particularly AI, to create imp...

In this conversation, Vit Lyoshin and Mike Bauer delve into the concept of Innovation Ops, a framework designed to enhance an organization's ability to deliver innovations effectively. Mike Bauer is a seasoned executive with over 30 years of experience leading cross-functional teams to bring innovative companies and products to market. His expertise spans data communications, IoT, Big Data, enterprise software, and more, with a strong focus on strategic planning, product development, and buildin...

In this episode of An Hour of Innovation podcast, host Vit Lyoshin speaks with Steve Waddell about his journey in entrepreneurship, focusing on the importance of understanding the 'who' behind product development rather than just the 'why'. Steve shares his experiences in reinventing the bathroom faucet, the challenges he faced, including unexpected tariffs and the impact of COVID-19, and how he pivoted his business towards technology and smart solutions for health and wellness. Steve Waddell is...

In this episode of An Hour of Innovation podcast, host Vit Lyoshin speaks with Amer Tadayon, founder of Lucihub, an AI-powered video production platform. They discuss Amir's diverse background in engineering, sales, and filmmaking, and how it shaped his approach to innovation. Amer Tadayon is the Founder and CEO of Lucihub, a Las Vegas-based company that utilizes artificial intelligence to revolutionize video production. Lucihub offers a platform that provides quick, professional editing solutio...

Luká Yancopoulos talks about the challenges in the healthcare supply chain and how his company is revolutionizing procurement for medical practices. Luká is the CEO and co-founder of Grapevine Technologies, a company focused on revolutionizing the medical supply chain by providing a platform designed for B2B wholesalers and purchasers in the healthcare sector. Luká has been recognized for his work in healthcare procurement, with Grapevine aiming to save costs on medical supplies through a more e...

Vinod Sharma talks about the journey from idea to MVP and scaling to the first 100 customers. Vinod shares his extensive experience in the tech field, emphasizing the importance of validating ideas, defining a minimum viable product (MVP), and acquiring initial customers. Vinod has 24 years of experience building and scaling multimillion-dollar products. With deep expertise in product development, he helps SaaS founders transform visionary ideas into scalable products. Takeaways * Validate your...

Mike Malloy talks about fractional executives in this episode of An Hour of Innovation podcast. He explores the benefits and challenges of fractional executives, the evolution of fractional roles, and the types of companies that benefit from hiring fractional leaders. Mike is a founder and CEO of Malloy Industries, the agency with over 300 fractional executives that helps B2B SaaS companies scale their businesses from $2M to $20M. Takeaways * Fractional executives bring extensive experience and...

In this conversation, Ivan Gekht discusses TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving or TIPS), a systematic approach to problem-solving and innovation. He explains its origins in the USSR, its evolution, and its application across various industries. Ivan is the CEO of Gehtsoft USA, a tech powerhouse where science meets innovation, tackling complex challenges with precision, curiosity, and systems thinking. The team specializes in creating production-ready, custom software that’s efficient, reli...

In this episode of the Hour of Innovation podcast, Josh Folk talks about the challenges of strategic alignment within organizations. Josh shares his journey of becoming a leader in innovation and discusses the barriers that innovation leaders face, including communication issues and the need for a culture of collaboration. He explores the role of AI in addressing these challenges and introduces his new venture, StratRocket, which aims to enhance clarity and alignment within organizations. Takea...

In this conversation, Dr. Alfred Spector discusses the complexities of data science and artificial intelligence, emphasizing the importance of understanding the broader context beyond technical aspects. Dr. Alfred Spector is a visiting scholar at MIT, senior advisor at Blackstone, and co-author of the “Data Science in Context: Foundations, Challenges, Opportunities” book. Takeaways * Data science goes beyond just algorithms and models. * Understanding data science requires insight from large da...

In this conversation, Dr. Stephen Porder, an associate provost for sustainability and professor of ecology at Brown University, discusses the core message of his book “Elemental: How Five Elements Changed Earth’s Past and Will Shape Our Future” and explores the historical impact of organisms on the environment, focusing on cyanobacteria, plants, and humans. He introduces the concept of 'life's formula' and emphasizes the importance of understanding the elements that makeup life. The discussion h...

In this episode of the An Hour of Innovation podcast, Sam Zellner talks about fostering a culture of innovation within organizations. He explains the importance of involving all employees in the innovation process, managing risks associated with new ideas, and measuring the success of innovation initiatives. Sam is the CEO of Inspire IP, a SaaS platform dedicated to helping corporations build and sustain innovation ecosystems. Sam also served as an Executive Director of Innovation at AT&T. Take...

In this episode of the Hour of Innovation podcast, Vikram Bharadwaj shares the unique challenges and opportunities of Product Management in Digital Consumer Marketplaces. He describes the essential skills Product Managers need to succeed in these dynamic environments, from balancing multiple sides of a marketplace to leveraging network effects, driving experimentation, and ensuring collaboration across all participants. Vik is a seasoned product manager with over 11 years of product experience i...

Heidi Ram, a seasoned product recruiter and advisor, discusses the current landscape of the job market for product management professionals. Heidi is a product recruiter, leader, and advisor to the Product Management community on industry insights, market trends, salaries, resumes, and more. And, she is a founding member of The Product Recruiter, where her team of recruiters solves the ambitious goals of Founders, CEOs, and CPOs by delivering world-class talent to design, build and launch produc...

In this episode, Adam Thomas discusses the role of metrics in product management and introduces the Survival Metrics Framework. Adam is the principal at Approaching One Product Consultancy. Adam has over 15 years of experience building and scaling teams of product managers, marketers, designers, and product operations. Takeaways * Metrics are essential in product management to measure progress towards a goal. * Clear and relevant metrics help communicate a problem and how close you are to the s...

Dan Manning, a storyteller and startup mentor, discusses the power of storytelling in communication and business. Dan has a fascinating career from flying fighter aircraft to negotiations with foreign military to speechwriter for the most senior officials in the US Air Force. Now, Dan helps founders and executives to be heard, understood, trusted and remembered through storytelling. Takeaways * Storytelling is a powerful tool for communication and business, as it engages the audience's imaginat...

In this podcast episode, Antonia Landi, a product operations coach and consultant, discusses the role and importance of product operations in the overall product management world. Product operations is described as the work around the work, providing product teams with the tools and support they need to be successful. Takeaways * Product operations provides the tools and support for product teams to be successful. * Product operations focuses on the organization as a whole, rather than just the...

Gunjan Paliwal, Senior Product Development and Marketing Manager shares insights on product roadmaps and go-to-market strategies. Gunjan is an experienced product strategy and growth leader with a history of driving impact in tech and commerce. Takeaways * Prioritization is key when adding items to a product roadmap, considering impact and feasibility. * Balancing strategic work with maintenance is crucial for a healthy product. * Deep customer understanding is essential for successful go-to-ma...

Mark Kilby, a remote agile leader, mentor, coach, and author, discusses remote work, remote agile teams, and remote organization culture. Mark works with remote, hybrid-remote, and location-centric organizations to coach and inspire innovation and collaboration. Takeaways * Rethinking practices and communication is crucial for successful remote work. * Intentional connection and socialization are important for remote teams. * Leadership behaviors need to adapt to remote settings. * Coaches and ...